Once bitten, twice shy.

It is something we all learn at an early age and can determine our courses of action the older we get. When I was younger and lacking gear and knowledge, to look upon one of Eastern Iowa's tributaries with pole in hand would fill me with dread. Like most, I took the path of least resistance...this included a coffee can full of nightcrawlers and a bobber above a baithook. Yet still, it was so much 'safer' to stick to smaller, or more tranquil environs where I could satisfy my angling curiosities rather than attempt to tackle the Wapsi, Iowa, Cedar, Maquoketa, etc.

When customers come to me and want to get started whether for the fact that they are recently retired and want to give it a go, or young families looking for some adventure, my first and foremost rule is to keep it simple. To me it does not get any simpler than a jig and a bait of choice.

And this is all well and good for an outing to the family farm pond, or shore fishing the local city impoundment, but what about that county park next to the Wapsipinicon? As anyone here can attest, nothing can clear out the tackle box quicker than a fishing trip to one of our rivers without much forethought into the best way to approach the attempt. Discouraging would be an understatement.

With some basic understanding this needs not be the result of the attempt. In an effort to keep the article short, I will try to keep to the basics inherent with the art of jigging moving water, which to my way of thinking gives the most bang for the buck.

The first question obviously: where are the fish? There is an old adage; "90% of the fish are in 10% of the water and 90% of that water is along the shoreline. I hold this to be true to a great extent but with all empirical facts there will always be exceptions as we can all attest.

Another adage is this: There are two ways to catch a fish with bait. Enticement, or provocation. You either get them to bite due to hunger, or by dangling your offering in their 'strike zone' where you finally push their tolerance level to the limit. You will swat at a fly, no matter how full you are, a bass on the other hand can only bite it! This is why a simple twister tailed jig can be so deadly. Any type of minnow imitating bait can be quite effective no matter the quarry, so look for the plastics that do just that and I can guarantee you will get action from your results.

But if you retrieve your presentation where there are no fish? Zip. So, we are back to square one. Whenever I come upon a spot along moving water the very first thing I do is look at the surface. And, I am looking for only one thing, the direction of the flow. All water, as we know, flows downstream. But, there are times where it can't seem to make up its mind and these are the areas we are looking for. Where this water that is shall we say, undecided meets the water that is quite determined to flow downstream-that is called the seam. I've also heard it called the breakline. The important thing is this, from top to bottom this is an area of least resistance and will hold fish.

There are two ways to approach a break. From above or below. Counting the jig becomes paramount to your success. If you are above the break and cast out in the current to let the bait drift down to the break, that number you count will be different than the count you will experience if you stood below the break and cast above it to get it in the same zone.

The count that gets you in that strike zone without catching snags and rocks all day is determined by so many factors that only practice and variations on your differing plastics, line class, jig heads, rod length as well as wind and speed of current can gain you the gratification you desire. I fear that I am already making this too complicated and will have lost some of you looking for help, and if that is the case, I apologize and ask that you only go back and read it again, then get out there and start counting...!

Oh, another thing, river specimens are not quite as sensitive to weather fluctuations as their lake and pond cousins so, anytime is a good time to give it a go. Although, river fluctuations can have dire effects on their temperment and only time on the water will teach you how to manipulate these periods to the best of your abilities. The important thing is, spend a few dollars on the most diminutive of baits that A) you don't need to keep alive and B) can provoke a strike from anything at any time.

I hope this gives you some courage to take on one of Iowa's most unappreciated resources, our tributaries to the Mississippi River. I wish you the best memories in your attempts to come.